A Practical Guide to Surrendering All to God
There are some prayers that are easy to pray.
“Lord, protect me.”
“Lord, provide for me.”
“Lord, help me.”
“Lord, bless me.”
But there is another prayer that can be much harder:
“Lord, I give this to You.”
Not fix this for me.
Not make this turn out the way I want.
Not even show me exactly what You're going to do.
Just...
I give it to You.
That is surrender.
And after this week's Law & Order episode on trusting God, I have been thinking about what trust looks like when we actually have to live it.
Because I can say:
“God, I trust You.”
And still hold tightly to my plans.
I can trust God with my words while trying to control the outcome with my hands.
So perhaps there is a question each of us needs to sit with:
What am I still holding?
Surrender Is Not God Taking Your Will Away
In the chapter “Consecration” from Steps to Christ, Ellen White makes an important distinction.
God does not force our wills.
He doesn't want mindless obedience. The chapter describes God's government as appealing to our intellect and conscience and says that forced submission would actually work against the development He desires for us.
That means surrender is a choice.
God invites.
We decide.
And perhaps that makes surrender even more meaningful.
God could force us.
He doesn't.
He wants us to willingly say:
“Father, I choose Your way over mine.”
But how do we actually do that?
Let's make it practical.
Sit Down With God—and Bring a Piece of Paper
Find somewhere quiet.
Take out a sheet of paper.
And before you begin writing, pray.
Not a long prayer.
Just:
“Father, show me what I am still holding.”
Then wait.
And start looking at the different areas of your life.
My Plans
Write down the future you've already planned in your mind.
The career.
The business.
The retirement.
The house.
The ministry.
The move.
The relationship.
Whatever it is.
Then ask yourself:
Have I asked God what He wants—or have I decided what I want and asked Him to make it happen?
That's a hard question.
Now ask another:
If God's plan looks different from mine, am I willing to follow?
Don't rush your answer.
This isn't about saying what a Christian is supposed to say.
Be honest with God.
My Timeline
Sometimes we're willing to surrender the outcome...
but not the timing.
“God, I'll trust You to provide—but I need it by Friday.”
“God, I'll wait for the opportunity—but surely by next month.”
“God, I know You're leading—but I thought I'd be further along by now.”
We put deadlines on promises God never made.
So write down the thing you're waiting for.
Then cross out the date you've mentally attached to it.
And pray:
“Father, I surrender not only what happens, but when.”
That may be one of the hardest things you write.
My Money
Money exposes trust quickly.
Ask yourself:
What am I afraid will happen if I allow God to direct my finances?
Maybe you're holding onto money because you're afraid there won't be enough.
Maybe you're spending because purchasing gives you temporary comfort.
Maybe you've attached your security to a particular income.
Maybe you've decided that financial success must look a certain way.
Surrender doesn't mean becoming irresponsible.
Quite the opposite.
It means saying:
“Everything I have belongs to God. Teach me to manage it according to His will.”
Then make the next financial decision from that position.
My Work
This one can be subtle.
We can dedicate our work to God while still demanding that it succeed according to our definition of success.
So ask:
If God gives me a small beginning, will I despise it?
If I prayed for fifteen and He placed three in front of me, can I faithfully serve three?
If I wanted a thousand readers and one person was encouraged, was the work worthless?
If the business grows slowly, does that automatically mean God isn't leading?
Surrender says:
“God, the work belongs to You. Show me what faithfulness looks like today.”
Then do today's work.
Not next year's.
Today's.
My Relationships
Write down the names that are difficult to surrender.
Your spouse.
Your child.
Your parent.
Your friend.
Someone who hurt you.
Someone you desperately want God to change.
Sometimes surrendering a person means recognizing:
I am not the Holy Spirit.
I can pray.
I can love.
I can establish appropriate boundaries.
I can speak truth.
I can apologize when I am wrong.
But I cannot control another person's heart.
Write their name down.
Then pray:
“God, I love this person, but You love them more. I place them in Your hands.”
And resist the urge to immediately pick them back up.
My Habits
Now we get uncomfortable.
Is there something God has already shown you...
and you're still negotiating?
Not something you're unsure about.
Something you already know.
Maybe you've been saying:
“Eventually.”
“I'm working on it.”
“Just one more time.”
“It's not really that serious.”
“God understands.”
Consecration doesn't ask:
How much can I keep and still belong to God?
The chapter makes the opposite point: whatever draws the heart away from Him must be surrendered.
So write it down.
No excuses.
No explanation.
Just its name.
Then ask:
“Father, am I willing for You to have this too?”
My Reputation
Here's another one we don't talk about enough.
Would you obey God...
if people misunderstood you?
Would you follow His direction if your friends thought it was foolish?
Would you change something if people asked why?
Would you begin something small enough to look unimpressive?
Would you stop something successful if you became convinced God was telling you to leave it?
Sometimes we aren't afraid of God's will.
We're afraid of explaining God's will...
to everybody else.
Surrender says:
“Their approval cannot be more important to me than Yours.”
Now Look at Your Paper
Plans.
Timeline.
Money.
Work.
Relationships.
Habits.
Reputation.
Maybe your page contains only one thing.
That's okay.
Look at it.
Because this is where surrender stops being theoretical.
Steps to Christ describes the struggle against self as a tremendous battle. It doesn't pretend surrender is effortless. But it also presents God as inviting rather than coercing us: we are choosing whether to yield ourselves to Him.
So if you're struggling to release what's on that paper...
tell God.
“I don't want to give this up.”
That's a prayer too.
“I'm afraid of what will happen if I let go.”
Tell Him.
“I want Your will, but part of me still desperately wants mine.”
Tell Him that too.
Surrender doesn't require pretending.
God already knows what's in your heart.
Look at What Christ Gave First
And this is where the chapter becomes beautiful.
Before we become consumed with what God is asking us to give Him, Ellen White turns the question around:
What has Christ given for us?
The answer is everything—His life, His love, His suffering for our redemption. And the chapter presents Christ's love, rather than cold obligation, as the great motivation for surrender.
That's important.
We aren't surrendering ourselves to Someone who has withheld Himself from us.
He gave first.
Before God asked for your plans...
Christ gave His life.
Before He asked for your future...
He gave you a future.
Before He asked for your heart...
He showed you His.
So maybe surrender doesn't begin by staring at everything we're afraid of losing.
Maybe it begins...
at the cross.
Pray the Prayer
Now take the thing you've written down.
Hold the paper if you need to.
And pray:
Father, this belongs to You. I have been trying to control the outcome because I am afraid of what will happen if I let go. Today, I surrender it to You. I give You my plans, my timing, my desires, and my expectations. If Your way is different from mine, give me the willingness to follow. Show me what obedience looks like today, and help me leave tomorrow in Your hands. In Jesus' name, amen.
And then...
get up.
Because there's one more part.
Live Like You Surrendered It
This may be harder than the prayer.
Don't surrender your finances at 7:00 a.m....
and spend the rest of the morning panicking over them.
Don't surrender your child...
and then spend the afternoon trying to control every decision they make.
Don't surrender the business...
and immediately create ten frantic backup plans because God hasn't shown you next year.
Don't surrender your future...
and demand that God explain it by Tuesday.
That isn't surrender.
😂
Pray.
Listen.
Do today's work.
Obey what you already know.
And leave what you cannot control where you placed it:
with God.
And when you realize you've picked it back up?
Because you probably will.
I probably will too.
Don't conclude that you've failed at surrender.
Take it back to God.
Again.
“Father, I picked this back up. Here it is.”
And tomorrow, if necessary...
again.
Open Your Hands
The Consecration chapter eventually comes to a wonderfully simple invitation: don't wait until you feel more worthy, more spiritual, or more prepared. Come to Christ as you are and yield yourself to Him.
Maybe that's where you are today.
You're waiting until you're less afraid to surrender.
Less attached.
More certain.
More spiritual.
Don't wait.
Bring God the frightened heart.
Bring Him the reluctant heart.
Bring Him the heart that still has questions.
Bring Him the plan you've spent five years creating.
Bring Him the dream you desperately want.
Bring Him the thing you're terrified to lose.
And say:
“Lord, here I am.”
This week's Law & Order episode ends with three words:
Trust in God.
Perhaps this week's companion blog asks us to respond with three more:
I surrender all.
Because if I truly trust the One who is leading...
I can finally...
open my hands.
0 comments